New FIT/JAZZ L-Series i-VTEC Engines

The new (2nd generation) Honda Fit was just launched in Japan for the JDM in October
during the Tokyo Motor Show. This amazing little car will now be making its way outside of Japan
and to the rest of the world from next month onwards. For Asia, it will continue to be called the
Honda Jazz and will be launched starting in Thailand and thereafter across the rest of Asia
next year.

This new Fit comes with either of two 'new' engines, actually a development of the engines that
powers the outgoing 1st generation model. They are the 1.3l L13A SOHC i-VTEC and the 1.5l L15A
SOHC i-VTEC. The new L13A has discarded the i-DSI technology in favour of i-VTEC and delivers the
superior low-rpm torque of its predecessor along with a lot more power in the high rpm range, as
well as enhanced fuel economy in everyday driving. It is now 16-valves in configuration, still SOHC
but features enhanced intake performance and DBW (drive-by-wire) and delivers a max power of
73kW (100ps), 14ps or 16% more power than the outgoing L13A i-DSI. Using the 12V/16V VTEC
implementaion and new ECU tuning helps it deliver this max power along with a class-leading 24km/l
in fuel economy (Japan 10.15 rating).

The new 1.5l L15A SOHC i-VTEC delivers superior fuel economy combined with good torque throughout
the rpm range. Using the 'power SOHC VTEC' technology first used on the D15B engines of the 5th
generation (1991-1995) Honda Civics, it now delivers a max power of 88kW or 120ps, 10ps or 9%
more power than the outgoing L15A SOHC VTEC. Along with this, it still delivers a fuel economy of
19.6km/l !

The CVT gearbox too have received important enhancements. It now features the use of a
torque converter and offers better off-the-line acceleration. It is yet unknown whether
it still retains the use of the infamous 'start-up clutch'. The CVT gearbox have revised
gear ratios for better performance and also improved fuel economy during cruising. A new
low-friction, high efficiency oil pump and CVT pulleys plus a new creep control system
(implemented via ECU programming) provide optimized 'creep control' at low speeds and
during idling for improved fuel economy.

This short technical overview is written using the materials found in both the Honda Fit page
on the Honda website for the Japan Domestic Market (www.honda.co.jp) as well as materials from
the Honda Motor Co. Ltd resource page for media. The translation from the japanese languaged
materials have been done on a best effort basis. As with the new format for our technical overview
articles, the actual technical materials
in this article will be published in watermarked JPG formt, to enforce copyright on this review.